Local hero: Holden's new hatch

Local hero: Holden's new hatch

General Motors has released images of a new Australian-designed small hatchback that will be built alongside the Commodore in South Australia from late next year.

The five-door Cruze hatchback show car will be officially unveiled at the Paris motor show later this month.

It will wear a Chevrolet badge, but the car was designed and built by Holden's Port Melbourne design studio, one of only three GM studios worldwide that has the ability to design prototype concept vehicles.

At the moment, Holden sells an imported, Korean-built sedan version of the Cruze, but from March next year, it will begin producing an updated version of that car in Australia. The Cruze hatch is expected to be produced from later in 2011, fleshing out the small car range.

The new Cruze is expected to be fitted with a more efficient turbocharged 1.4-litre turbocharged engine that will use less fuel and provide better performance.

Although the Cruze is a global car for GM, the local sedan and hatchback will have unique styling that ties them to the rest of the Holden range, including the Commodore.

Holden chief designer Richard Ferlazzo says the studio has spent more than 12 months working with GM designers from around the world developing the hatch.

"Our brief was to create an alternative body style to the traditional sedan that retained the same dynamic proportions that has made Cruze such a success around the world," said Ferlazzo.

The Cruze has been a huge sales hit for Holden, quickly establishing itself as one of the best selling small cars in the country, and the most popular Holden after the Commodore.

The Cruze is the first small car to be built in Australia since the Corolla ceased local production in the late 1990s.